IMIS

A complete interactive database of all described marine planktonic copepods, including :

• Taxonomic classification with references
• Illustrated and referenced species database
• A geographic distribution in the world's oceans and seas, with division in zones and subzones
• A complete bibliography including taxonomic and ecological aspects

The database was compiled from a bibliographic search of 5861 relevant scientific publications, taking into account the actual state of synonymy. It comprises 319 genera, and 2463 studied species with geographic distribution. The species cards are progressively enriched with Figure plates, favouring the rare documents. This inventory treats all the species listed starting from the work of Giesbrecht (1892 [actually "1893"], after Holthuis & Vervoort, 2006) up to 2007/2008. It is based on the analysis of more than five thousand publications, either of a purely systematic nature, or dealing with ecology. It cannot be regarded as exhaustive, nor safe from errors or lapses of memory, but the consulted publications correspond to a world "sampling". In the case of certain species the critical analysis starting from the literature does not make it possible to be sure about their validity or their synonymy; these cases are indicated in the remarks for each one of them.